Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is back in theaters, and it just proved that the scary shark film still has very sharp teeth. The 50th anniversary re-release swam straight past two brand-new films to grab the No. 2 spot at the box office over Labor Day weekend in the US, raking in an estimated $9.8 million through Monday from 3,200 theaters. Only Zach Cregger’s Weapons, a horror hit in its fourth weekend, could claim the top spot, earning $12.4 million over the long weekend.
It’s wild to think a movie released in June 1975 can still compete with Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz in Caught Stealing ($9.5 million through Monday) or the Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman-led The Roses ($8 million). 50 years later, audiences are still lining up to watch Chief Brody, Hooper, and Quint battle a 25-foot great white shark named Bruce. Universal Pictures even made it more immersive, too. Jaws is now showing in IMAX and 4DX formats.
Jaws, originally made on a $9 million budget, grossed $476.5 million globally, which in today’s dollars translates to roughly $2.8 billion. It won three Academy Awards for Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramatic Score, and Best Sound. Beyond box office receipts, Jaws created the blueprint for the summer blockbuster and inspired merchandising, sequels, and a generation of filmmakers. Quentin Tarantino once called it “one of the greatest movies ever made,” and clearly, audiences agree.
And the Jaws release proves another point: the problem might not just be audiences, but the films themselves. There’s a major problem if folks would rather rewatch a 50-year-old film on the big screen rather than a new release.
The trend of re-releasing classic films has been growing, of course. Studios are filling theaters with nostalgia-driven titles: Black Swan, Batman, Toy Story, and there’s also an upcoming Apollo 13 rerelease on September 18. These screenings are low-cost, and sometimes they hit big. Interstellar’s rerelease earned $38 million worldwide, and Coraline grossed $34 million in 3D. Fathom Events reports rereleases now account for about 20% of its revenue, showing that audiences still want big-screen experiences for films they love.
While Weapons reclaimed the top spot after being briefly dethroned by Netflix’s Kpop Demon Hunters, Jaws outsold two fresh releases.
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